38Synonyms found for liberty

Word Origin & History

liberty late 14c., from O.Fr. liberté "freedom," from L. libertatem (nom. libertas) "freedom, condition of a freeman," from liber "free" (see liberal)"The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right." [Learned Hand, 1944]Nautical sense of "leave of absence" is from 1758. To take liberties "go beyond the bounds of propriety" is from 1625. Sense of "privileges" led to sense of "a person's private land" (mid-15c.), which yielded sense in 18c. England and America of "a district within a county but having its own justice of the peace," and also "a district adjacent to a ...city and in some degree under its municipal jurisdiction" (e.g. Northern Liberties of Philadelphia).